Pituitary Gland
Pituitary Gland

Pituitary Gland

This slide shows a section of the human pituitary. In the anterior pituitary (pars distalis), you can see cords of cuboidal cells with a wide range of nuclear to cytoplasmic volume ratios. The posterior pituitary (pars nervosa) is connected to the hypothalamus by the pituitary stalk - this is easily visualized because the nervous tissue appears continuous between the two glands. The optic chiasm is also visible in this section; it sits anterior to the pituitary and can be affected by pituitary tumors.